Abstract

Urban vacancy is not a singular phenomenon. The argument here is that vacancy is an empty signifier filled by different spatio-legal projects and counter-projects. The chapter builds on Robert Cover’s dynamic view of community law creation, Henri Lefebvre’s description of the production of space and David Delaney’s discussion of the creation of spatio-legal worlds in order to analyse three conflicting spatio-legal logics as they clash in the specific space of a vacant building in the centre of the city of São Paulo. A market logic views property as freely disposable for the owner, the state’s formal logic is present in judge’s support of owner’s rights while a local squatting movement justifies the occupation based on the same social function of property enshrined in the Brazilian constitution. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with residents and coordinators at the occupation and local state officials.